After finishing his travel diary, Luo Mo left Tang San's Diary and headed toward the capital city of the Heaven Dou Empire. He traveled through forests and mountains, sometimes encountering the occasional Soul Beast, and eventually arrived at Heaven Dou City.
He skipped the tedious formalities and went straight into the city.
[Heaven Dou City stood outside the imperial capital, surrounded by a hundred-meter-high wall made of white granite. The city gates were guarded by soldiers, and the walls were lined with patrols. The place was imposing, and everything inside seemed fresh and new...]
"Heaven Dou City..."
After hearing Xiao's description, Luo Mo wanted to see it with his own eyes.
[The first thing he noticed was a little girl perched atop a carriage. She had short, neat hair, fair skin, and wore a pink dress. Her big, watery eyes were so adorable that she looked just like a little princess straight out of a fairy tale...]
Luo Mo: "..."
It was just like meeting the princess from a fairy tale.
[The little princess spotted Xiao and greeted him: "Little snake, you look nice today." She smiled brightly, thinking that the little snake was naturally the most adorable little snake in the world...]
"Ah, Xiao, you've been showing off again."
The Heaven Dou Emperor chuckled. "You're not as old as your grandpa, but you already know how to charm girls!"
Luo Mo: "..."
Heh, showing off.
[The little princess continued to chat with Xiao. "Little snake, would you like to be my friend?" Xiao went quiet. It never minded making friends with humans, especially a little princess. It was also curious about what might happen if the little snake prince met the white horse princess...]
"Wow!"
In the dormitory, Xiao was drinking water when it saw Luo Mo return. It nearly spat the water out.
"You little rascal. You're trying to make yourself out to be a prince now?"
[The little snake played with the little princess for a while, wandering through Heaven Dou City's busiest streets and eating all kinds of delicious food. Just then, a middle-aged man walked up to the little princess and said, "Rongrong, it's time to go home."...]
"Hm? Rongrong? Could that be Ning Rongrong?"
Luo Mo was confused. What was going on with Tang San's Diary?
"Wow! Xiao, you actually met the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. You're so lucky!" The Heaven Dou Emperor was even more curious about what had happened next.
Xiao, however, seemed a little puzzled.
"But if Xiao had called her Ning Rongrong, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan might have exploded."
Luo Mo glanced at Xiao, making sure it hadn't gotten itself into any trouble. He couldn't imagine what would happen if it had. Would they come after him later?
"Don't worry. Worst comes to worst, I'll send you back home."
The Heaven Dou Emperor was actually starting to look forward to it. Luo Mo's words were probably right; that really might be what happened.
[So Xiao promptly turned to the little princess and said, "Goodbye, princess." Then it waved a paw at her and said, "Little snake, I hope you get home safely." It thought for a moment, then declined her invitation. It was on a journey, after all. How could it leave behind the human companion it had traveled with...]
"Hah, if there's a sequel, I'll believe it."
Luo Mo let out a cold laugh, then continued reading.
[The little snake watched as the little princess suddenly pulled out a bag of gold Soul Coins. "I'll pay you! My home is really fun, with lots and lots of gold!" Xiao's eyes lit up. It thought about it, then followed the little princess home. The princess was as excited as a child who'd found a treasure, and once they got home, she searched the whole house for a bag of gold Soul Coins to give Xiao...]
"Oh, Xiao, you're really quite the little schemer. I never knew you were like this."
Luo Mo couldn't help smiling at how clever Xiao had been. Then he immediately went to search the room where Tang San's Diary had spawned.
That room had been reserved for Xiao.
Tang San rarely returned to his own home. Usually, he kept the odds and ends he'd found in that room, such as weapons, hidden weapons, toys, and rare, ancient plants...
Apart from the few valuable items, most of it was junk worth only a few Soul Coins.
That was why Luo Mo usually didn't bother checking.
"Found it!" Luo Mo spotted a bag of gold Soul Coins among the clutter. He weighed it in his hand. It was worth nearly a hundred gold Soul Coins.
For a moment, he felt as if he'd become wealthy and free.
"That feels so good..."
[Every day, Xiao accompanied the little princess as she played in the city. Sometimes she would take it to meet her white-haired grandfather and they'd go up to the sky together. Other times, all Xiao could see was the old man's feet. It was so frightened that its heart nearly jumped out of its chest...]
"Those two old men weren't the Poison Douluo and the Sword Douluo, were they?"
Luo Mo couldn't help but wonder.
[After Xiao learned that the little princess had reached rank ten and was preparing to absorb her first Soul Ring, it told her about its abilities. The little princess believed it, then told her father. After hearing the news, the old man immediately began making arrangements...]
"Phew. Given the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's resources, she'll probably be able to absorb quite a few Soul Rings. I wonder if Xiao will end up getting something out of it, too."
Luo Mo felt a little envious.
But when he thought about it, he had resources of his own. He was about to reach a hundred thousand Three-Leaf Grass, and each plant was as valuable as a fortune.
[After learning that the little princess had absorbed a thousand-year-old Soul Bone and improved her physical strength, Xiao asked her what she wanted to absorb next. The little princess was very grateful to Tang San, and asked Xiao what it wanted...]
"Wow! The little rich girl's going to spoil Xiao!"
Luo Mo and the Heaven Dou Emperor exchanged a look and laughed.
[Xiao thought for a while. Its own wish was a bit ordinary, and it already had one. That was why it said it wanted something especially valuable. The little princess thought hard for a long time, unable to decide what was worth the most. In the end, she gave the secret cultivation technique passed down by the clan to Xiao...]
"The clan's secret cultivation technique?"
Luo Mo was startled. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had something fun like that?
He searched Tang San's room for a while longer and found a small notebook. On its cover were four words: "Split-Mind Control."
"So that's what it was. This technique's pretty good."
Luo Mo was delighted. He immediately sent a message to the Heaven Dou Emperor: "If you get the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's secret technique, and it turns out to be a divine skill, that'll be incredible... It's called a divine skill for multitasking. You can use your mind to do several things at once."
The Heaven Dou Emperor: "..."
You're a hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beast, a spirit beast with spiritual powers. How could you not know that?
But it only occurred to him now.
Didn't he think he was already tired enough?
He could only hope that, in the end, he wouldn't be pushed too far. The Heaven Dou Emperor felt that the road ahead of him had become bleak.
[Xiao went to the Sunset Forest with the little princess to hunt for a Soul Ring. The princess absorbed a thousand-year Soul Ring, then suddenly encountered a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast. The white-haired old man struck it down with one blow, and Tang San's Diary dropped from the sky, landing beside Xiao. A thousand-year Soul Ring fell out...]
Luo Mo: "..."
The corner of his mouth twitched. The Soul Ring that had almost killed him before had just dropped right beside Xiao.
Xiao was still as lucky as ever.
At least there was the Heaven Dou Emperor around. Even if something like that happened, Xiao could still absorb the Soul Ring by force.
And now that he had the Three-Leaf Grass, he wasn't afraid anymore.
If Xiao ran into a Soul Ring, it could just devour it. If it could find one that had lasted a hundred thousand years, the old man would give it something from his own collection.
[As Xiao absorbed the Soul Ring, the white-haired old man saw what was happening. He was puzzled. "Are you a Soul Master or a shapeshifting Soul Beast?" Xiao was stunned. The white-haired old man had been concerned that something dangerous might happen to the little princess, and had kept an eye on her. He was even ready to detonate his Soul Bone...]
"Whoa!"
Luo Mo and the Heaven Dou Emperor both drew in a sharp breath.
Tang San's Diary couldn't have gotten Xiao killed, could it?
At least Luo Mo didn't sense anything suggesting that Xiao was in danger.
He immediately looked down...
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